According To Multiple Reports Pens Are On Verge Of Signing Him. Take It As A Grain Of Salt.....But Heres Info

Chesnokov is highly plugged in and a reliable source, and if he is willing to name the Pens name, that's good enough for us to go on as a pretty solid rumor.

This could be a mystery. Could he be the next Janne Pesonen or Vladimir Vujtek - an accomplished European player that comes to North America not to make an impact in the NHL? Or just a late-bloomer that could be a valauble add?

What we do know from a quick search is Belov is 26 years old, undrafted to the NHL, and has played for Avangard Omsk for the past five seasons in the KHL, where he was the team's leading defensive scorer (9 goals, 17 assists) this season. He's also listed at 6'3, 185, which may or may not be entirely accurate, but seems like he has some size.

He also played for Team Russia in the World Championships earlier this month (see above for a picture with ex-Penguin Tomas Surovy making an appearance) so it seems like Belov is regarded enough to be on the map at least somewhat in the hockey world.

Assuming the Penguins sign him, time will tell what kind of impact he may have. I won't pretend to analyze his game but a team doesn't usually sign a 26 year old player from Russia unless they intend to give him a really good chance of making the NHL roster. And the player probably i